


Nothing Purrsonal

by Megatraven



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Crying, Depression, Frustration, Gen, Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-10-15
Updated: 2017-10-22
Packaged: 2019-01-17 17:15:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,395
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12370320
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Megatraven/pseuds/Megatraven
Summary: After a bad day, Marinette receives a surprise gift from her partner: his phone number.





	1. I Could Offer You a Warm Embrace

**Author's Note:**

> Heyo guys! So tonight was kind of rough for me, and when things get rough, I project onto characters!!! So, this fic is going to deal with Marinette struggling with depression as well as how her friends try to help her through it. Depression won't be the whole focus of the fic, but it will be appearing throughout it.
> 
> I'll update the tags and characters as I go!

Marinette sat on chaise, staring at the ceiling of her room and thinking that it was  _too_  pink. Her walls had been that way since her earliest memory, and they held so many happy memories that she couldn’t help but feel like they were smothering her now. Maybe she would ask her parents if they could repaint her room this summer.

“A nice pastel yellow would look lovely,” she muttered, closing her eyes to imagine it.

Of course, that would mean she’d have to redo her entire room, not just the paint. Her sheets, her covers, her decorations- everything.

Sighing, she turned her head to glance at the clock for the thousandth time that night. Seeing it had only been a minute since she last checked, she let out a large groan and felt the tears start to come again.

With a sniffle, she hastily wiped her eyes clear and sat up, dizzy but determined to get out of her room, get out of the house, even if it was just to her balcony. Climbing the stairs was easy, although she felt herself growing angry as her vision grew blurred. Paying the tears no mind this time, she stepped on her bed and hoisted herself out of the hatch in her ceiling.

Cool air hit the moment she stepped outside, and it did wonders to ease that sick feeling in her stomach that told her she wasn’t alright. Taking a deep breath, she walked to the railing and closed her eyes, losing herself in the wind and the smells and the sounds of the city.

It was thanks to this that a few minutes in, she heard the sound of someone landing behind her. The ring of a bell told her that it was her kitty, not that he knew her connection to him.

Cocking her head to listen for him told her when he moved beside her.

“Who made you cry?” Chat Noir inquired, voice low but kind. And, if she didn’t know any better, maybe a hint of defeat.

“No one,” she answered. And, truthfully, no one had. There wasn’t one specific person or thing that had made her sob in the girl’s bathroom that morning until Alya led her home.

There wasn’t any reason why she had started crying, she just did. It was sudden and it slammed into her from all sides, like walking against the grain in a crowd refusing to part for her.

And she  _hated_  that nothing could affect her like it did, she hated that her perky and cheerful personality had to be broken in public, in front of the people who always looked to her with their troubles. She wanted to be strong for them, always, and in her eyes, she had failed that miserably.

“-nette. Marinette?” Chat called out, shaking her gently and pulling her from her thoughts.

Marinette was now facing him, and looked up to see concern etched into his face.

“Are you okay? Do you need a hug?” he asked, a frown punctuating his words.

As soon as he asked it, she leaned into him and felt his arms immediately wrap around her, gentle and warm. She couldn’t answer his first question, though. Her stomach and her mind told her no, she wasn’t okay, but she wanted to tell him yes.

She wanted to be okay.

 _What’s that saying... fake it til you make it?_  she thought, squeezing him just as hard as she squeezed her eyes shut.  _This is fine. I’m fine. It’s fine._  

And then, he started to hum, softly, almost too quiet to be heard over the wind, but there nonetheless. One clawed hand rubbed calming circles on her back, careful not to catch on the clothe of her pajamas.

The sound of his voice and the purr that blossomed from his chest helped her to relax, the soothing circles on her back doing the rest of the work to lull her to sleep.

 

 

* * *

 

 

When she awoke at the sound of her hatch being closed, she was in her bed, tucked in with her Chat Noir doll beside her, its always-smiling face making her smile too. Just a bit. Staring at it, she noticed something green sticking out from underneath it. Turning the doll over, she found a green sticky note and pulled it off.

 

> **_Princess,_ **
> 
> **_If you ever need me,_ **  
>  **_and I’m not already there,_ **  
>  **_please text or call me:_ **  
>  **_06 XX XX XX XX_ **
> 
> **_\- Chat Noir_ **

A small laugh bubbled up from Marinette when she read the note. Not because it was funny, but because her Chat Noir was such a selfless person when it came to helping others. It was endearing.

Clutching the note to her chest, Marinette drifted back to sleep, no dreams or nightmares bothering her that night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tell me what you think! :> Comments, kudos, and bookmarks always appreciated!
> 
> Find me on tumblr @megatraven
> 
> Reblog the fic here: http://megatraven.tumblr.com/post/166424418159/nothing-purrsonal-ch-1


	2. To Make You Feel My Love

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The school day just barely begins, and Marinette already finds herself struggling to get through it. Luckily, she can always count on Alya to give her some support.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> guess who's back, back, back again with projecting her issues onto Marinette B))) Yeah so this week I had a small issue when I was looking through my fanfics and I ended up deleted 20 of them. I was going to delete more but I finally got a handle on myself and exited out of AO3.
> 
> I'm doing ok today, though, minus not having slept yet! :D I hope you're all doin great!

When Marinette finally dragged herself out of bed in the morning, she was happy to find that she hadn't yet missed any of her classes. Barely bothering to change clothes, and shooting a quick 'thank you' text to Chat Noir, Marinette skipped down the stairs to greet her parents.

"How're you feeling?" Tom asked her, concern lacing his words as he came forward and hugged her.

Marinette shrugged helplessly. "I dunno, Papa. But don't worry, I'm sure I'll bounce back soon! I'm Miss Positive, after all!" she exclaimed with false cheerfulness.

"Yeah... Just don't push yourself too hard, alright? Take all the time you need." He kissed her forehead before messing up her hair.

Chuckling, just a bit, she ducked away from his hand. "Papa! Now my hair looks even worse!"

Tom laughed with her, but the mood was quick to become somber again. Clearing his throat, he reached for a box on the counter and handed it to her. "Your mother made you some of your favorite macarons to bring to school. Make sure to thank her on your way out, alright?"

"I will. Thanks, Papa," she said, giving him another hug before taking the box. Once she shouldered her backpack, she headed downstairs and stopped by the front counter. She slung an arm over her mom's shoulders and kissed her cheek. "Thank you for the macarons, Maman."

Sabine smiled and pulled her into a side-hug. "I hope you feel better, dear. Have a nice day in school."

"I'll try," Marinette promised, disengaging from Sabine and grabbing a croissant from the display case. Shoving it into her mouth so her hands would be free to carry the macarons, she headed out.

The sky was overcast and the day was cool, tiny splatters of rain telling her it was going to be storming soon. Wishing she'd checked the weather and grabbed an umbrella before leaving, Marinette sighed and crossed the road. The school building loomed over her alongside the memories of yesterday's events, making her pause on the steps.

"Ok... I can do this. Everything's fine, everything's cool," she muttered in an attempt to give herself a pep talk.

Tikki poked her head out from her purse. "Everything  _is_  fine, Marinette. You can do this. Nobody will judge you for what happened yesterday."

Marinette shot her a grateful smile. "Thanks, Tikki, I really hope you're right."

"I'm almost certain I am. I'll be here if you need me," she said before disappearing back into the purse with a wink.

With a deep breath to settle her nerves and hopefully keep her stomach in check, she walked through the doors and headed to class. In the courtyard, she offered smiles that were a little too wide to her classmates, grimacing when she'd made it past all of them. Hopefully they wouldn't think too much of it.

Entering the classroom, she let out a sigh of relief and settled in at her desk, leaning back against the bench so that her head rested on top of it and setting the macarons next to her. Not the most comfortable position ever, but she didn't care enough to adjust to a better one. Closing her eyes, she tried to focus on calming herself, and could feel it working until her phone pinged loudly, reverberating through the empty room.

Marinette slapped her hand down on her phone and groaned until she hit the right button to silence it. Cracking an eye open to see who texted back, she jolted to her feet at the name on her screen.

> **(8:13) Thanks for last night**
> 
> _(8:21) No purroblem! (^w^)  
>  _
> 
> _(8:22) Have a wonderfur day!_

Smiling softly at his message, she tucked her phone away and took out her sketchbook instead. No grand ideas came to mind when her pencil hit the page, making her frustrations bubble up again. Logically, she knew it was silly to expect some huge, never-before-thought-of idea to just reveal itself to her. Unfortunately, she didn't quite have the patience for logic just hen.

Growling, she flipped through the pages she'd already filled out and began to feel worse.  _Mediocre_ , she thought,  _ugly, too simple, physically impossible, mediocre, mediocre._  The frown that'd stolen her smile away deepened.  _Mediocre. Mediocre. Clashing elements, and not in a good way. Mediocre._

Her heartbeat picked up in speed as she continued looking through them, right up until she ripped one right from her book.

_Unproffessional._

Rip.

 _Mediocre_.

Rip.

_Ugly._

Rip. Rip. Rip. Rip.

"Marinette, hey-" Alya said, her voice cutting through the storm of doubt and frustration that clouded Marinette's mind. "Marinette!"

The next rip was cut short when Alya's hands grabbed onto hers, keeping them from tearing out another page. Marinette looked up and found that she could barely even see Alya's face. When had she started crying?

"What'd you do, Mari?" she asked, looking at all the pages strewn about. Some were crumpled into balls and others were just thrown around her.

"I don't... I don't know. I was just trying to make something new, and it's like this tiny, minuscule piece of doubt I had in my mind grew ten times larger, and suddenly everything... everything was just... bad."

"Oh, Sweets." Releasing her hands, Alya moved in for a hug, squeezing tightly until Marinette returned the embrace. "Is it ok if I take your book for the day? Just in case?"

Marinette nodded, rubbing her face on Alya's shirt at the same time. "I'm sorry."

"It's okay. You don't have to apologize. Let's just focus on getting through today okay, yeah? I'll be right here with you, okay?"

"Okay," she said, wiping her nose on her arm. Looking at Alya's shirt now stained with tears and snot, she apologized again. "Sorry about your shirt, I didn't mean-"

"It's okay. No big deal, I'll just wash it when I get home later." Pulling away from Marinette, and looking at the clock, she cursed. "Here, sit down and I'll collect all your drawings, okay?"

"But I can help!"

"I know you can. But I can handle this. You just try to relax and chill." Her eyes landed on the box of macarons on their seat. "Eat a little, get a drink."

Marinette looked like she wanted to argue, but ultimately bowed her head in defeat and sat down. "Thanks," she murmured, reaching for the box. Opening it, she found lavender and honey macarons, as well as a few strawberry ones thrown in. She pulled out a lavendar and honey one to nibble on and watched Alya clean her mess, somewhat guilty and definitely feeling like crap.

It was all done pretty quickly, though. Alya uncrumpled the pages that needed it and then put all of them inside the sketchbook, which she then slid into her own backpack before settling down next to her best friend.

"That looks pretty good," Alya commented, her attempt to change the subject sudden but not unwanted. "Fresh or leftovers?"

"Fresh. Maman made them this morning. There's strawberry too." She jiggled the box. "Want one?"

"I'd love one, thanks." Taking the same kind Marinette had out, Alya popped the whole thing in her mouth. "Sho, di' you shleep well?"

That pulled a tiny laugh from Marinette. "Surprisingly, I slept pretty okay."

Alya swallowed and wiped at her mouth. "Oh, good. Now I guess the real question is, how much sleep was it?"

"Ah, well... I don't exactly know. I kind of lost track of the time, I fell asleep without even trying. Probably slept enough, if me getting to school early means anything."

"True, true," Alya said, nodding along. She was about to say more when other classmates started to flood into the room. "We'll talk later, okay?"

"Okay," Marinette agreed, relieved that she wouldn't have to deal with her situation further that morning. She kept her eyes on the desk in front of her, refusing to look up as her friends passed by to their own seats. The longer it took them all to get seated, the more the sound of their feet shuffling grated on her nerves and sent her stomach into a frenzy.

Thankfully, the bell rang out loudly, and when she looked around, she saw everyone was there, save for Chloe. That was a relief of its own, but now for the normal reasons.

"Alright, alright, settle down, class," Mme. Bustier said, walking through the door a few seconds late. "Remember that this week is Hero Appreciation Week, so whether they're super or not, make sure to let them know you appreciate them! Now, let's go over yesterday's homework."

Although it made her feel bad, Marinette started to tune Mme. Bustier's voice out. It was a little hard to focus on getting through the day and on the homework she hadn't even completed, after all.

Propping her head up on her hands, she was ready to just watch the class pass her by until the door slammed open.

Chloe walked in, tapping away on her phone.

"Chloe, you're already late. No phones."

The girl groaned, but pocketed her phone anyways. When she passed by Adrien, her eyes landed not on him, but on Marinette, who stared back. She continued to look until Mme. Bustier scolded her again, forcing her to turn her attention to the board.

Marinette groaned and laid her head on her desk. It was official: she was not going to have a good day. Her only saving grace came when Alya reached over and squeezed her hand and Tikki pressed against her side, reminding her that she wasn't alone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tell me what you think! :> Comments, kudos, and bookmarks always appreciated!
> 
> Find me on tumblr @megatraven
> 
> Reblog the fic here: http://megatraven.tumblr.com/post/166685017979/nothing-purrsonal-ch-2


End file.
